At this year's Chicago Motor Show, Volkswagen of America's Chief Operating Officer Johan de Nysschen had some thoughts on the recently refreshed Passat. According to his words, the brand's signature midsize vehicle has been met some obstacle in terms of sales figure.
Last year, Volkswagen Passat only sold 14,123 vehicles in the US market, a major change – possibly to an all-electric model would not be a bad idea, especially with the debut of the all-electric ID. Space Vizzion and I.D. Vizzion. In case you didn't know the difference between these two names, the former one is a midsize estate and the later is the saloon version of it. Both concept cars are based on VW's brand new MEB platform.
The COO also told the media “But what comes after the current Passat? “It's probably a reasonable assumption that when this Passat reaches the end of its lifecycle, its successor will probably not feature an internal combustion engine.” For your information, the Passat in the US market is all equipped with purely ICE, despite the plug-in version Passat GTE achieved a respectable figure in Europe.
Two years ago at Geneva, Volkswagen premiered the I.D. Vizzion, it comes with a very bold claim of 413 miles of range and 111 kWh battery pack. Thanks to its double motor all-wheel drive and 301bhp output, the car will hit 62mph in 6.3 seconds. Whereas its estate sibling ID. Space Vizzion has a 367 miles WLTP range and 82 kWh battery pack. The estate version has a maximum output of 335bhp, that'll help the car sprint from zero to 62mph in 5.4 seconds. These two new EVs reportedly will be named ID.5 and enter production within two years.
Keyword: Volkswagen Passat's future has been threatened by an EV